Interview with John 5- Famous Monsters Tour!

By: Taelyr Goody

I had the pleasure of speaking with John 5 (Rob Zombie; John 5 and The Creatures) a few days before he and the Creatures embark on the Famous Monsters tour with Wednesday 13 and Hellzapoppin Circus Sideshow.

Taelyr: “I know you play a lot of TV theme songs, what is your favorite to play?”

John 5: “Oh I love TV theme songs. Let’s see, that’s a great question. The Simpsons is incredible, family guy is great. Uh what else? And then I like really old, old school ones like Brady Bunch and Beverly Hillbillies because they have such great themes and if you heard something as a kid, you know, these themes were so good, these songs were so good and so memorable that you’ll never forget them. So yeah those are some of my favorites for sure.”

T: “So what was the first TV theme song you learned how to play?”

J5: “Let’s see, maybe Batman. Na na na it was really easy and you know I think that was one of the first.”

T: “That’s a classic.”

J5: “Yeah.”

T: “I read that you were in a band called Vamprilla back in like high school and that’s when you started experiencing with the face makeup.

J5: “Yes.” (Laughs)

T: “So how is the face makeup from the Vamprilla days different from the face makeup you wear on stage today?”

J5: “Well, you know, it’s very different. I grew up, you know, I went to a very like…preppy school, if you will, so my hair was like super short I had to, you know, I didn’t wear any crazy clothes or anything like that so. But the guys in Vampirilla, I remember were all like 26 and I was like, you know, 15. I don’t think I even drove yet. And I was like ‘woah, these are like old guys’ you know. So I had to wear a black wig too because they all had really super long black hair and I just had this preppy haircut. Really funny.”

T: (Laugh) “That’s awesome.”

J5: “Yeah, it was really funny.”

T: “I know that Marilyn Manson gave you the name John 5. How did that feel, to have Marilyn Manson give you a name that has stuck with you for so long?”

J5: “Well, I think that, you know, I didn’t really even think about it because I was more concerned about learning all the songs and then, you know, going on tour and being in this brand new band that I had so much work to do, so I didn’t really even think about that until later. And, you know, I kept the name because everybody knew me around the world as John 5. It’s just like if, you know, Ace Frehley from Kiss, when he left Kiss, you know, if he went back to being Paul Frehley, it doesn’t really make sense.”

T: “Right. Seeing as you love instrumental music so much, do you have a favorite classical composer?”

J5: “You know, I love Mozart. I love the story of Mozart and he was a REAL…they say he was the only REAL genius in…you know, the history of man because of the fact he was doing all these things as a baby, as a kid, you know, as like a 4 year old, a 5 year old, a 6 year old, you know. They say he was the only human really touched by God.”

T: “I can believe that, he’s one of my favorites as well.”

J5: “I mean it’s incredible, like the story. Unbelievable.”

T: “So you’ve done the film scores for Lords of Salem and 31, is it safe to say that you’re also doing the film score for 3 From Hell?”

J5: “I don’t know, I’m going to be touring quite a bit so I don’t know. Rob works with a bunch of other people as well, so I think I’ll put in some music, contribute some music and stuff like that, but I don’t think I’m going to be doing the full score.”

T: “Where do you find your inspiration at? You have all these really awesome riffs, where do you find inspiration from?”

J5: “Well I wish I could say I was, you know, touched by God but I don’t think that’s the case. (Laughs) I just, you know, sit on the couch and watch TV and I’m playing Guitar all the time, all the time, all the time, all the time, all the time, so it’s just what I do and things will come to me eventually.”

T: “So do you have a guitar with you right now?”

J5: “Yes, there is one right here actually. I just walked to the other seat but yeah I’m looking at it, so it’s that close.”

T: “Nice. I saw just yesterday actually that Nikki Sixx is going to play bass, is he playing bass on the whole tour, or just a select few shows?”

J5: “You know, me and Nikki are like best friends and on (laughs) on Instagram we’re just, you know, he always says funny, silly things, you know, on Instagram in our comments we go back and forth. You know, I’ll say something ridiculous or he’ll say something ridiculous, so he was just saying that on the Instagram comments, but I’d love to have him, he’s always welcome.”

T: “That would be an incredible show.”

J5: “Yeah. Well he played with me once at the Whiskey here in Hollywood so, it was really great.”

T: “Well you have a lot of people excited when they saw that comment, the whole internet is a buzz now.” (Laughs)

J5: “Yeah, I know. It’s, HE’S got a whole lot of, I didn’t say anything!” (Laughs) T: “One last question. If someone came up to you and said ‘Hey, I’ve never heard any of your stuff with the creatures’, what is the one song you would tell them to listen to to get them hooked?”

J5: “You know, what a great question. That is such a wonderful question. I would say The Black Grass Plague, because it’s heavy and it’s got like Banjo in it, Mandolin, and I think that sums it up, but what a wonderful question.”

T: “Thank you so much for taking the time to talk with me, I will be at the show on Thursday.”

J5: “Okay, great. Thank you.”

On Stage Review will be out at The Forge on November 1st to cover this show- see you there! Tickets: www.TheForgeLive.com